Fleeting Hope
by Crimson Breeze
Summary: He's miserable and she's scared. For just a few moments, they comfort each other and distract each other from their own problems.Tyler/Caroline. One shot set during 2x07.


Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. But if I did, Tyler and Caroline would be together forever!

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Caroline walked slowly through the crowd of people on the Lockwood's front lawn. She had to admit, she was impressed. There were fire dancers and fire eaters throwing flames around like it was effortless and the masks and elegant dresses of the party goers added just the right amount of mystery to theme of the party.

The outside looked spectacular. She wondered if the inside was just as dazzling. Knowing Mrs. Lockwood, it probably was. Caroline was supposed to have come to help decorate for the party yesterday but she had called and said that she was taking care of her mother who had come down with a nasty stomach bug.

In truth, it probably would have been good for Caroline to come decorate for the party but Mason would probably be there and she didn't want to butt heads with him.

That, and she was depressed. She couldn't be with Matt, her mother considered her dead, and Bonnie hated her. That had been at the beginning of yesterday.

A lot had happened after that. For the first time, she had actually had a heart to heart with her mother and it meant more to Caroline than she had ever thought possible. Just knowing that her mother cared was enough for Caroline and so, she did what she had to do. That didn't mean that she liked doing it.

Bonnie wasn't telling her that she would stop Caroline if she gave in to her natural instincts anymore.

Things were looking up.

At least, Caroline had though things were looking up this morning when she went to gawk at Matt at the grill this morning.

Enter Katherine.

Mason was dead and Katherine was pissed off. She had brought Caroline's hopeful outlook crashing down and replaced it with sheer terror in less than five minutes.

Caroline took in a deep breath to calm herself as she began to make her way up the stairs on the lawn.

It was going to be okay. It was all going to end tonight. After tonight, Katherine would be out of their lives and she would never be able to hurt anyone ever again. As long as Caroline played her part. As long as Caroline could get her to walk into that room.

She kept shooting nervous glances around her. She couldn't run into Katherine yet.

Caroline was scared. She was probably the worst liar in all of Mystic Falls and tonight it was crucial for her to lie to and actually fool the queen of deception. Not an easy task. But she would do it. She had to. It was the only way to protect herself and her friends.

"_I will rip this town apart until it rains blood."_

Killing Katherine was the only way to protect all of Mystic Falls.

First things first, she had to go inside.

Wait.

She hadn't been here since she had turned. How was she going to get in?

Darn it! She had forgotten all about that little detail.

Caroline began to panic for a moment but then she calmed herself and she reached the stairs leading up to the mansion. Mrs. Lockwood usually greeted all her guests at the door. Everything was going to be okay. Caroline felt awkward and clumsy tonight for some reason. Maybe it was because she felt she didn't deserve to be here tonight. After all, Mason was a Lockwood and though she had had nothing to do with his death, she still felt a twinge of guilt going into the Lockwood's home knowing of his fate and who had killed him.

Tyler had excused himself from Matt and the girls on the pretense of finding more alcohol.

Matt was actually cutting lose today. It was a nice change and normally, Tyler would have loved that his friend was not discouraging him from getting wasted but tonight, he just wasn't in the mood. No matter how hard he tried, he could not shake the melancholy feeling in the pit of his stomach. But that didn't mean he was going to stop trying.

So what if Mason had taken off as soon as Tyler had given him the stupid rock? He didn't care. It didn't matter. He was used to being ignored. His father was dead and Mason was gone. No big deal.

Tyler had wanted to go out for some air. All the masks and the dark blues, blacks, grays, and purple colors of the fabric were suffocating him. Unfortunately for him, there were just as many people outside than there were inside. Tyler just wanted to be alone. This party should have been canceled. All of this seems like a mockery. His dad was dead so why bother keeping up with his stupid plans? What was the point?

But his mother needed this. She was doing it because his father had loved this theme. He could always ignore the people who probably couldn't care less about the charity and had just come to eat and mingle.

He decided he may as well go and find that bottle of vodka but as he walked past the front door, a splash of bright red caught his eye.

Tyler couldn't help it. He did a double take. And he froze. He had stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw her but now he turned around so that he was fully facing the door as she walked up the stairs. His arms dangled at his sides as he stared.

Her head was down and it looked like she was being careful not to trip in her six inch heels.

She looked like a goddess.

Tyler found himself feeling a little breathless. The word escaped his mouth without him realizing it.

"Wow."

Her head shot up, golden curls bouncing with the sudden movement. She seemed surprised at first when her eyes landed on him but then a warm, vibrant smile spread across her face.

"Hey, Tyler." She greeted as she got to the top of the steps.

"Hey, yourself, Princess." Tyler responded as the effect of seeing her wore off. She was stunning.

"You look…"

Hot. That was what was going through Tyler's mind as he looked her up and down. But he couldn't tell her that. She was his best friend's girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend. But still, he couldn't say things like that to her. She was off limits. No flirting allowed. Not anymore anyway. They used to flirt with each other on occasion before she and Matt had gotten together. Everything was so different now. Even something as insignificant as making small talk and casual flirting with Caroline seemed surreal to him now. He felt isolated. He was different. He wasn't normal and it seemed strange that everything was still going on the way it always had when his world had changed so drastically.

"I look…?" a soft voice questioned, interrupting his reverie. He had still been staring with his mouth slightly open.

Caroline always looked good but tonight, she had outdone herself. Matt would be ogling her all night after he one look at her, Tyler was sure.

"Amazing." Tyler finished as she came to a stop in front of him.

A flustered smile spread across her face and her cheeks flushed slightly as she bent her head downwards.

"Thank you." She replied looking back up at him shyly.

Since when did Caroline Forbes do shy?

A suddenly awkwardness washed over him. He should not be checking her out the way he was doing right now.

He decided it would be best to stop staring at her legs and focus on her face. She still hadn't come inside.

"Well, don't just stand out there Caroline, come on in."

Caroline opened her mouth like she was about to say something but then she closed it and stepped inside.

"Thanks." She said again as she stepped to the side to allow other people to easily walk through the doorway. He moved to the side as well so he wouldn't be in anyone's way.

"You don't look half bad yourself. I never noticed before, but you pull off suits rather well…for a jock anyway." She spoke in a somewhat playful, teasing tone. It was reminiscent of the one she used to use before. Before Matt. Tyler felt his lips tug upwards slightly at the compliment.

"Well, suits really aren't my style, but I figured, if I actually dressed appropriately tonight, it would give my mom one less thing to worry about." He spoke truthfully. He didn't know why. He should have just shot her some sharp retort about how he made the suit look good. He'd made small talk with her at parties plenty of times but tonight he just wasn't in the mood to be witty. He didn't really expect her to catch on to his melancholy demeanor. Sudden feelings of anger and frustration erupted in him and Tyler suppressed the urge to break something, to hurt someone, anyone. He clenched his fists, willing the irrational anger to dissipate. He couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted this nightt to end. How much he just didn't want it to be happening. A feeling of bitterness overcame him. He felt alone and he felt abandoned but his mother was still here with him and he didn't want to disappoint her the way he had seemed to always disappoint his father.

"_It's natural to feel abandoned. I just don't want you to feel alone."_

He had never felt more alone in his life.

A look of understanding and sympathy had spread across Caroline's face when he had stopped talking.

"This is the first party…since…" she trailed off. Tyler was surprised. Nobody else seemed to have realized that. The fact that she did caught him off guard.

"How are you?" she asked him softly, her playful tone gone. He knew what she was asking and he appreciated that she didn't say it out right because that would make him look like the sad little depressed kid that he had been trying so hard not to look like.

Truthfully, he was miserable but he didn't want to tell her that. People only asked to be polite anyway. It's not like anyone really cared. But as he opened his mouth to curtly tell her that he was fine, he saw the sadness in her eyes and she looked like she genuinely wanted to know. She was looking at him like she actually cared what his answer would be.

His mouth stayed open for a moment and then he responded in a gentler way than he had originally planned.

"I'm okay." He said with a nod.

Not really. But she had her own problems to deal with and they weren't exactly friends. Not that he was willing to talk about his dead father with his friends either. His uncle had taken off and he couldn't exactly go around telling people that he was cursed and will turn into a wolf should he blow his top and kill someone in the fights that he is renowned for. He wanted to let it out. He wanted to tell someone how frustrated and alone he was feeling but she was Caroline. Perfect, happy, insecure, bubbly Caroline. She was not cursed with some supernatural gene. He couldn't talk to her. He couldn't talk to anyone. But for just a moment he found himself wanting to talk to her. Only because she was the first person that has expressed genuine concern for his mental state. Only because she is the only person that had even acknowledged since his father's wake that maybe he wasn't okay.

She nodded as well.

"I couldn't make it to the make it to the funeral and I haven't really seen you since…uh… I'm really sorry, Tyler." She stumbled over the words and Tyler felt guilt wash over him. Here she was, paying her respects and then apologizing for not making it to the funeral. Why? Because he had landed her in the hospital. The memory of the last night that he had seen his father alive came crashing down on him. She had been there. Actually, she had stopped a major confrontation between himself and his father. Tyler had been ready to make a scene in the Grill that night since he had been feelings particularly annoyed at being told to go home so early without any explanation. Well, that and a bunch of other things. Not that it took much to get Tyler to go into dick mode.

"Thanks, Caroline." He said, trying to force a smile.

"But I should be apologizing to you. I almost killed you and you're apologizing for not being able to make it to the funeral?" He said in an effort to brush off the feeling of despair and sadness that he'd been fighting since his father died.

As soon as the words left his mouth, she shook her head in the negative.

"It wasn't your fault, Tyler. Don't blame yourself. I'm just glad that you're okay."

She didn't seem the slightest bit angry with him. It only added to his guilt. No one had cracked down on him for crashing that car. He and Matt had actually made up in the waiting room while she was in surgery and the sheriff had probably just been feeling too sorry for him to yell at him or ask him too many questions because his dad had just died.

"I almost kill you and you're glad that I'm okay?" he asked skeptically but he added a playful edge to his voice in an effort to lighten the mood of the conversation. He didn't want the doom and gloom. He missed their stupid, teasing snippets of conversations. And she was obviously fine. She had made a full recovery, a rather miraculous one, he had heard. He hadn't gone back to the hospital to see her. With everything with his dad, he hadn't been able to get away.

She followed his lead and giggled but then she smiled sadly at him.

"I'm fine." She said softly. Her eyes were filled with so many different emotions but they were shifting so fast that Tyler couldn't be sure what she was feeling. Still, her wistful look told him that she wasn't her usual bubbly self.

"Yeah?" he questioned. Normally, he wouldn't make any attempt to make sure that anyone was alright but something about the sadness he could sense radiating off of her caused him to ask.

"Yeah. I'm fine you know, just… sick of my own drama." She said with a shake of her head and a forced smile as she waved her hand in front of her face as if to show that it wasn't anything serious bothering her.

In truth, Caroline wasn't fine. She would never be fine again. She couldn't be with Matt. She couldn't risk hurting him. She was undead. She was a monster. A blood sucking monster. She was constantly fighting the urge to bite into everyone's necks and drain them dry. Even though she had drunk an entire blood bag before coming here, she still wanted more. She was slowly getting used to controlling it but always having to fight off the urge was tiresome.

But she couldn't give in to it. She wished she could talk to someone but everyone had their own problems to deal with and Stefan had already done so much for her already. It wouldn't be fair of her to just make him listen to her complain. This was the first time anyone had asked her if she was really alright. How ironic that it would be Tyler Lockwood, of all people. She suddenly found herself wanting to blurt out everything that she was feeling. Her nervousness, her fear, her blood thirst. But this was Tyler. And he was still human. She couldn't tell him all these things, even if he was being uncharacteristically nice to her. He was human.

At the moment anyway.

No.

Caroline gave herself a mental shake.

Tyler was human and he was going to stay that way. Of this much, Caroline was sure.

Tyler's thoughts traveled down a different path. He had no idea what she was really so depressed about.

Matt. She must miss him as much as he missed her Tyler guessed.

"You two will work it out." He didn't known why he was trying to comfort her. He didn't even know why he was still talking to her. Usually he'd crack a joke and she'd laugh and then they'd both be other their own separate ways. Their small talk usually never lasted this long but he didn't really have anyone else to talk to right now. He didn't want to talk to anyone else right now. Then again, he didn't really want to talk to her either. But right now, she was better than Matt and Sarah and Amy who seemed hell bent on enjoying this night and this party that Tyler wished was nonexistent.

Caroline looked down to the floor.

"I don't know." Ok. This was definitely not the Caroline Tyler knew.

She looked defeated. She looked broken.

"He was still pretty mad at me this morning." She continued sadly.

This morning? Matt hadn't talked to Tyler about Caroline at all today.

"Give him time, Caroline. He misses you. He'll get over it eventually." He didn't know why he wanted to make her feel better so badly but he did.

"Did he tell you that?" she asked him with slightly wide eyes. She looked like a child that had just been promised a visit to the candy store. The sad look had been replaced with one of curiosity and a tiny bit of hope.

Tyler took in a deep breath.

"Well, not in so many words. But he does talk about you. A lot. I think you're pretty much always on his mind. It's probably driving him crazy that he broke up with you."

She let out a little laugh.

"Well that's… good to know." She said. But she didn't really seem happy or relived. If anything she looked even sadder and her voice was wistful. They hope that had been in her eyes a moment ago had faded before he had even replied. What was up with her? She was little miss sunshine, the queen of optimism. Why did he feel like her mood was melancholy enough to be able to hold a candle to his own miserable outlook tonight?

"This place looks amazing, Tyler." She said, changing the subject.

Tyler quickly got the message. She didn't want to talk about Matt anymore and he was more than happy to change topics because it was weird talking to Caroline about Matt. The other way around was completely normal but this felt strange. And he didn't want to be miserable. He didn't want to make her depressed. He didn't want misery's company tonight. If anyone could shoo misery away, it was Caroline Forbes. He blurted out the first thing that came into his head.

"Yeah, my mom went all out. This was always my dad's favorite bash. I think she's just trying to honor his memory or something." Tyler didn't really share his mother's feelings. The party seemed less meaningful without his father. He wished that his mother had just dropped the whole idea.

"Oh." She said softly in a sympathetic tone.

Crap. He kept blurting out what was on his mind and making their forced conversation depressing. He had meant to turn the conversation to the fancy party décor not back to what he had been trying to ignore all month. He needed to stop. An awkward silence fell over them. He kept trying to think of something to say to excuse himself and leave but nothing came to mind. He was debating on whether or not to just be extremely rude and walk away without saying anything when she spoke again.

"You're missing him aren't you?" she asked softly. Tyler blinked at her in surprise.

Caroline didn't even know why she was talking to him. They usually never said anything more than hello to each other but he seemed sad and she felt guilty and she just wanted to make him feel better. It was a little hard to do when she was feeling so hopeless about her own outlook but they didn't both have to be miserable. He was still human. He still has a chance at a normal life and human happiness.

He had been staring at the floor with his hands in his pockets but her words caused his head to shoot up and stare into her eyes. His lips were slightly parted and he held his breath as he stared into her compassionate, sympathetic eyes.

Yes.

As much as he hated to admit it, he did miss his father.

"This big house, it must feel so empty without him." She continued, staring into his eyes and it seemed like she was lost in her own thoughts and was speaking them out loud just as he had done a moment ago.

Tyler eyes fell to the floor.

"More empty than before." The words poured out of his mouth before he gave them much thought. He didn't know why he was saying these things. Especially to her. They weren't really friends. The words that he had been keeping to himself since the wake just kept coming out and he couldn't seem to stop them. He looked back down to the floor as the emptiness threatened to consume him. He felt numb but at the same time, he felt like he might drown in pain and sorrow. A feeling of hopelessness washed over him. He wanted everything around him to fade away. He wanted this party to end. None of these people really gave a damn anyway.

"Whatever. I'll get over it." He said in an attempt to push away all the pain and hurt and the emptiness.

Frustration began to bubble up in him again.

He didn't want to feel this way. He didn't want to miss his arrogant dick of a father. He didn't want to blow his top over every little thing. He just wanted to feel okay again. His chest was feeling heavy and his throat was constricted. Why did it bother him so much? He hadn't even been close to his dad. And Mason hadn't ever said that he would stick around. Why did he feel so alone? Why couldn't he just ignore it? Suddenly there was a small hand squeezing his left arm.

His head snapped up to look at Caroline, his eyes wide. For a moment, he had forgotten she was there.

The pity that he had seen in everyone else's eyes at the wake wasn't there when he stared into her beautiful face. Instead, he saw compassion and sympathy and… understanding? She looked so sad and it was as if the look on her face was mirroring what he was feeling. Her lips parted and she looked like she was about to say something but only a small sound came out before she closed her mouth again.

She stayed like that for a moment with her hand on his arm and then she slowly closed the distance between them as she pulled him into an embrace.

For a moment, Tyler stood completely still, the shock of the sudden hug dulled by the pain and sadness he was fighting but for some reason, the circle of her arms around him made him feel better. He slowly brought his arms up to wrap them around her waist and returned the hug. His arms felt like lead but there was something comforting about the way she was holding him. He had just begun to feel a little less empty when she spoke.

"It's okay, you know. It's okay to miss him. It's ok to grieve. Today. Tomorrow. For however long it takes until you find closure. Until you feel better. Until the pain of losing him isn't so strong." She said softly against his ear, her chin on his shoulder.

The tightness in his chest and throat intensified for a moment before they disappeared and though he still felt somewhat numb, the pain had been pushed back down to the place in his mind where he could ignore it. He wasn't used to getting hugs. He wasn't accustomed to people comforting him like this. He wasn't used to people comforting him at all. He didn't really give off the vibe that said 'Come hug me.' Even at the wake, he had ended most of the forced conversations with handshakes. Now, he felt himself relax in her arms as she held him.

He kept his arms around her waist as he pulled back slightly to stare into her eyes. He saw his own confused expression reflected in her emerald orbs. It was like she had read his mind. How had she known what he had been feeling, what had been on repeat through his head?

"It's alright to hurt, Tyler. It's what makes you human." she continued.

Human. But what if he messed up? He's wasn't a normal human. He knew what she was trying to say. She was telling him that it was ok for him to be sad. That he didn't have to pretend like everything was okay and that he was ok when he really wasn't. For the first time in a long time, Tyler felt close to normal. He let out the breath that he'd been holding.

He wanted to say something to her but he didn't know how to respond. So he said the only thing that made sense.

"Thank you."

She gave him that same understanding smile and nodded. Then, she squeezed his shoulders one more time before she let go and stepped back. He let his arms slip off from around her waist.

"Sometimes all you really need is a hug." She tells him with a forced laugh as she tried to lighten the mood between them again.

"You're gonna be okay." She said softly, reassuringly.

He'd been telling everyone that he was fine for what seemed like forever. For the first time since Founder's day, he actually found himself believing it.

"Yeah." He says and he felt his lips tug upwards again.

She smiled back. But there was still that sadness in her eyes. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but he stopped himself, thinking that that might just make it worse because unlike her, he didn't know exactly what to say to make her feel better. He had already tried telling her that Matt missed her. What more could he say to lift up her spirits? He tried to think of something that might make her smile but nothing came to mind. The silence was quickly becoming awkward.

"Okay, well that's enough emo for one night, I think." He breathed out, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way. She laughed and he relaxed because she understood that he was just trying to change the subject.

It was then that Tyler caught sight of a waiter coming his way holding a tray full of champagne glasses. He stopped the man and took two glasses off the tray, ignoring the look that the man gave him because he was clearly a minor. The man looked at Tyler and then to Caroline as Tyler handed her the glass. His eyes lingered on Caroline for another moment before he walked away wordlessly.

"Think he'll snitch?" Caroline asked Tyler with a mischievous smile as she took a sip from the glass Tyler had handed her.

Score. Tyler couldn't help the thought as Caroline's eyes sparkled to match her smile, the sadness gone from her emerald orbs.

"Nah, what's it to him if we get drunk?" Tyler responded, falling back into careless 'I-do-whatever-I want' mode.

"Is that what you plan on doing tonight, Tyler? Getting totally wasted with your buddies?" There was laughter in her voice. She was teasing him and he was sure that like him, she was recalling all the times that they had all gotten drunk at parties together. Their social circles always landed them in close proximity to each other but he realized that today was the first time he'd ever had a real conversation with her. Despite the topic, he found himself glad that it had happened. He felt better.

"Well, maybe not totally wasted. But a few drinks never hurt anyone, right?" he said cockily. He could feel himself smiling.

"Right." She replied in a tone similar to his own.

He backed away from her slowly, taking in her lovely appearance one last time as he decided to end their conversation on this happy note.

"Have fun tonight, Caroline."

"You too." She replied and he raised up his glass at her and mouthed "Cheers" before turning around. He faintly heard her giggles as he walks away feeling light-hearted and relaxed.

Caroline took another sip from the champagne flute as she watched him go.

She tried to imagine what he might look like as a wolf but then quickly shoved the thought out of her mind as she recalled her last encounter with a werewolf. His uncle.

That would never happen to him. Caroline didn't know what kind of person Mason was and what kind of lies Katherine had filled his head with but she knew Tyler.

"_As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn."_

Katherine might have gotten Mason on her side to get the moonstone but she was not going to get to Tyler.

He didn't like to admit that he cared about anyone or anything but she knew that he wasn't bad at heart. He wasn't a killer. He'd be okay.

It was Katherine's fault. It was Katherine's fault that Damon opened the tomb and Mayor Lockwood ended up dying. It was Katherine's fault that Damon blew his top and killed Mason after he found out he was working with that bitch. It was Katherine's fault that Tyler's father and uncle were dead. Katherine was not going hurt Tyler ever again. After tonight, Katherine was not going to hurt anyone ever again.

As long as Caroline played her part.

She took in a deep breath.

"Okay." She huffed out as she tries to find a more secluded area. Katherine couldn't exactly confront her in a room full of people.

"Stay calm. You can do this, Caroline." She said to herself but the pep talk was making her more nervous.

She downed the champagne and decided to people watch through her mask. She caught sight of Matt laughing with Sarah in the distance. They'd been drinking. He didn't notice her watching him and then she saw Tyler come up from behind him holding a bottle and motioning for him to follow. Sarah went after Tyler and Matt was about to follow as well when he looked up and saw her. She smiled at him remembering Tyler's words, and he smiled back but then he looked away from her and followed after Tyler and Sarah.

She suddenly wished she could go and join them. Laugh and pretend that nothing was wrong and maybe even spark up a conversation with Matt. The desire to be a normal teenage girl with the three of them caused her heart to ache. She wasn't a normal teenage girl anymore.

She let him go.

She needed to be alone tonight. There couldn't be anyone with her if the plan was going to work.

Everything was going to be okay now.

Katherine wouldn't kill or turn anyone else.

Matt, Elena, Tyler, everyone, they wouldn't ever have to worry about Katherine again.

They'd all be safe. None of them would ever hurt again. Everything would be okay.

She repeated those thoughts to herself until she lured Katherine to the bewitched room and she actually began to believe it after she headed back downstairs feeling giddy.

She walked on air for just a few minutes until the two familiar voices of Matt and Tyler reached her sensitive ears.

And then suddenly, Tyler's humanity was gone. And he was freaking out and she was scared because Matt was unconscious with a bloody nose on the floor and Sarah was dead and the warm brown eyes that she had recognized all her life were glowing a bright shade of ambery gold and _Oh My God_ she had to fix this. She had to help him. He had to be okay because Katherine could not be allowed to ruin someone else's life.

It wasn't long until the feelings of dread and misery come back.

Tyler was a werewolf and both their hopeful outlooks were gone again.

Even when she was trapped, Katherine had still found one last way to make them miserable.

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AN: I don't really like how I ended this. I couldn't really figure out how or where I wanted to stop. I might write something to go along with this in a different fic. Sorry if the ending seems a little abrupt or rushed. This show has taken a serious emotional toll on me. I felt so bad for Tyler at the end of 2x14. I just want him to come back (and be with Caroline). Seriously, this couple is amazing. Just like the actors that play them. I could go on and on for forever but I'll stop here.

I tried to keep them both as much in character as I could. I just knew that Caroline had only been turned very recently even though it seems like she's been a vampire for a while. We don't see who invites her into the Lockwood mansion afterwards so this came from that.

Any who, I hope you enjoyed this. Review? Pretty please? It'll make me very happy if you do.

~Crimson Breeze


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